After seven years of planning weddings at Mankin Mansion, Gillian knew the grounds in a way most people never would. She had seen it in every season, watched countless couples move through their wedding days, and understood what made the space feel the way it does. But planning her own wedding at the Mansion was something entirely different.
When she and Clay got engaged, she approached the decision the same way she would for any couple. “I certainly did my due diligence,” she says. The two of them toured several venues that matched the aesthetic they were drawn to, taking the time to explore their options fully. Still, nothing quite compared. The moment that clarified everything wasn’t part of a formal tour, but a quiet evening when they walked the property alone. “We imagined our wedding here—not through my eyes as a planner, but as a couple,” Gillian explains. “After that, it was no question. The Mansion was it.”
Working so closely with weddings could have easily shaped her vision in a very specific way, but in reality, it helped her define what she didn’t want just as much as what she did. “It did influence me, but not in the way people might expect,” she says. “I always knew I wouldn’t wear white, but that choice felt even more certain once we chose the Mansion.” Instead, she chose a red wedding dress, something that felt more aligned with who she is. At the same time, her experience gave her a practical understanding of the space. She knew what flowed well and what didn’t, which made certain decisions easier—but it also meant having more ideas than she knew what to do with. “For me, I had so many visions—and I loved all of them,” she says.
It was Clay who helped bring things into focus, asking whether certain ideas truly felt like theirs or if they were simply things Gillian had seen and liked over the years. “That really grounded me,” she says. “We had to decide what actually felt like us, with as little outside influence as possible—even from my own experience.” From there, their vision became less about what a wedding should look like and more about what felt right to them as a couple.
When the wedding day arrived, it wasn’t the big-picture elements that stood out most. It was the moments that happened in between. Her favorite was their first look, where Clay surprised her with a necklace from her mother. “When he explained the meaning behind it, it was incredibly special,” she says. That moment also held something unplanned. “We had intended to write private vows… and we didn’t,” she admits. “During our first look, we both realized it and just laughed.” Instead of worrying about it, they said their vows on the spot, without preparation. “At that moment, I knew I was marrying my best friend.”
Even as a planner, Gillian didn’t take on the process alone. One of her closest friends, Leah, stepped in as a co-planner, attending meetings and helping keep everything on track. “She supported me just like we support our couples,” Gillian says. Being on the other side of the experience reinforced how valuable that guidance really is.
For Gillian, Mankin Mansion is more than just a workplace. “It truly feels like a second home,” she says. It’s a space she’s spent years investing in, not just professionally, but personally as well. “There’s a deep love and respect for the grounds and the intention behind every event.”
By the time everything came together, the day felt seamless. “Our vendor team played such a huge role in that,” she says. Surrounded by people she trusted, she was able to step out of the planner mindset and actually experience the day. Looking back, what stands out most isn’t the details. “I couldn’t tell you exactly what my tables looked like,” she says, “but I can tell you our DJ played a 20-minute burst of EDM, and it was one of the best parts of the entire day.”
Her advice to couples is simple: focus on what matters to you. “There will always be outside influence,” she says, “but your day should reflect you.” For her and Clay, that meant trusting the work they had done and the people around them. Once the day began, they let go of the rest.
“We knew we had a team we could trust,” she says. “So we just allowed ourselves to enjoy it.”
